In a conventional cellular system, terminals have performed a low power-consuming operation, i.e., a power-saving operation, by using a sleep-mode operation based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, which is a system parameter.
The WCDMA 3GPP system aims to provide circuit and packet services in a circuit-based system. On the other hand, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE), which is under standardization process to provide diverse packet services, is a packet-based system aiming to provide only a packet service.
Therefore, the LTE system which is devised to provide a packet service having a burst characteristic requires an efficient low power-consuming operation method for terminals.
In short, it is required to develop a method that can reduce power consumption not only in idle-state terminals whose session for a packet service is terminated, but also in active-state terminals in a section where there is no data to be transmitted to provide a packet service having a burst characteristic and diverse qualities of service (QoS).